Opus Axis sold in £23m deal
THE £23m sale of a Staffordshire distribution warehouse is welcome news to the county’s economy but the commercial property sector remains in the doldrums, experts have said.
The 466,000 sq ft Opus Axis, on the Centrum 100 site in Burton-upon-Trent, has been sold to pharmaceutical company Boots in a deal thought to be worth around £55 per sq ft. The deal is the largest of its kind in the region for three years.
Warwickshire-based Opus Land has been trying to market the warehouse for some time and hopes were high last year that Marks & Spencer would purchase the unit but the deal never materialised.
However, while the sale of the unit is a boost to the Centrum 100 development, the county’s inward investment agency has warned Staffordshire is not out of the woods yet.
John de Kanter, chief executive of InStaffs, said: “The deal is good news for the local economy and will undoubtedly mean some new jobs. However, anyone thinking this heralds recovery should not get carried away.”
He said the recession had left Staffordshire with an unwanted legacy of similar sized units and no buyers.
The massive Blue Planet development in Chatterley Valley, which despite winning a clutch of awards for its sustainable design – including a BREEAM rating of excellent, is still without a buyer, while the giant 750,000 sq ft Flair unit in Rugeley is also unoccupied.
In Burton upon Trent itself, sites such as The Duke and First Point were also failing to attract much interest, added Mr de Kanter.
“All of these sites will have to be sold before we see any new activity and as things stand at the moment, that seems a way off yet,” he said.
Michael Alderton, of Lambert Smith Hampton, which represented Boots, said the deal represented a long-term strategic investment for the drugs company, which is amalgamating an existing distribution unit in Worcester and two in Nottinghamshire into the new facility.
Gareth Williams, Development Director at Opus Land, said he was delighted to have completed the deal, which he felt highlighted improving conditions in the industrial market.
He said the company had been faced with an aggressive negotiating stance during the course of the deal but this was only what other landlords were experiencing in the current climate.
The Opus Axis scheme has been developed with the backing of the Palmer Active Development Fund.Opus Land was represented by Jones Lang LaSalle, GVA Grimley and BP Paribas.
